BOYS BASKETBALL: Quincy-North Quincy will be the toughest ticket in town

Friday

Feb 28, 2014 at 1:44 AMFeb 28, 2014 at 1:50 AM

Expect a sold-out gym at North on Friday night when the Red Raiders (21-1) host the Presidents (15-6) in the Div. 1 South quarterfinals.

Thomas Hinkley Patriot Ledger

QUINCY – How many people can fit in one gym?

The city of Quincy will find out the answer to that question tonight when top-seeded North Quincy (21-1) hosts No. 8 Quincy (15-6) in the quarterfinals of the Division 1 South Sectional boys basketball tournament.

Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

“People have been calling me and asking me when to show up,” Quincy coach Dave Parry said. “I’ve told them that they better be there by 5:30 if they want to get in.”

It’s always a spectacle when the two city rivals square off, but this one will be different than any of the others.

“I can’t even imagine what it’s going to be like,” admitted North Quincy coach Kevin Barrett. “It was crazy when we played Braintree in the tournament last year. I’ve been told that about 250 people were lined up on Hunt Street and didn’t get in. This will be a great stage and we’re all excited for it.”

This contest will be more than just a wild environment, however. It will be third game this season between the teams with the home side winning the first two. In the last meeting, on Valentine’s Day, the Presidents handed the Red Raiders their only loss, 51-49.

“There’s not a bad taste in our mouth, not at all,” Barrett said. “We had won 19 in a row to that point and 13 in a row against them, so the pressure was definitely mounting. Not that you ever want to lose a game, but that was a good opportunity to take a loss. It really let us just refocus and be a little more loose.”

Tonight’s rubber match almost never happened as both Quincy and North Quincy had to overcome double-digit deficits in the second half of their first-round games to pull out wins at home. Quincy ousted Barnstable, 58-51, and NQ edged Newton South, 67-66.

“The first tournament game is always the toughest one,” said Parry. “Hopefully we got our tournament jitters out of the way and now it’ll just be basketball.”

Both coaches are quick to point our that the familiarity level among the players is so great that it’s hard to read too much into the teams’ prior meetings.

“These kids know more about each other than the coaches do,” Parry said. “They’ve grown up playing with and against each other and we play each other year-round in summer leagues. The kids know each other so well that it goes beyond just ‘we were the only team to beat them.’”

Added Barrett: “The familiarity level is so high that all the other games go out the window.”

On the court, the Red Raiders will be led by their lengthy front court with 6-foot-9 center Anthony Green anchoring the paint and 6-5 Efthim Butka causing his own problems down low while also being able to step outside and shoot the three.

“Those guys are tough,” said Parry, “but we have confidence in our bigs in J.T. Bain and James Lam. Butka really surprised us the first time we played when he hit six 3’s (in a 72-64 NQ win on Dec. 23). That kind of range was something he worked hard on in the offseason and we didn’t know he had that in his arsenal.”

Quincy showcases a balanced attack and it isn’t uncommon for as many as five or six players to reach double-figures.

“They’re just so balanced that it makes it tough,” said Barrett. “There isn’t one kid that’s centralized in their offense. They do a good job of spreading the ball around and exploiting matchups.”

One last reminder: Get there early.

“We’ve played in some big games,” Barrett said. “I mentioned the Braintree game last year, and the sectional finals at UMass-Boston (NQ lost to Mansfield last year) was a great crowd, too, but this will be different. We can’t wait.”